Good Food Lines Up Multi-Partner Funded Cooking Series

UKTV has commissioned a multi-partner funded travel-culinary show, John Torode’s Asia, to air on pay-TV channel Good Food later this year.

UKTV and producer Blink Films UK partnered with a host of tourist boards and hotel groups across Asia to fund the ten-part series. The partners, which include the Hong Kong Tourist Board, the Macau Government Tourism Office, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces and The Peninsula Hotels, will receive on-screen product placement and credit mentions in return for their financial contribution.

John Torode’s Asia follows the titular TV chef on a culinary adventure across Asia. In each location, Torode seeks out the most inspiring cooks and explores what makes that particular country’s cuisine so tasty. In each episode, Torode will cook three dishes on location with local chefs.

Sally Quick, UKTV’s director of commercial partnerships who ordered the series, said, “John Torode’s Asia is our fourth advertiser-funded series with John for Good Food, and another example of UKTV using smart new funding models to ensure premium quality and entertaining editorial that our viewers will love.”

Luke Hales, Good Food’s general manager who ordered the series alongside Quick, stated, “Our viewers love John Torode and the format of travel and cooking works really well. This time the world-class chef embarks on a colorful and ambitious gastronomic adventure spanning six different countries. Viewers will discover the history behind some world-favorite classic dishes, which are given the Torode twist, and they’ll learn about the culture at the heart of some truly stunning destinations.”

Dan Chambers, joint managing director at Blink Films UK, commented, “This series is going to be a bowl of pure deliciousness, and we’re enormously grateful to UKTV and all the other partners who’ve made it happen.”